I applied online. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Aug 2011
Interview
Initial contact made through human resources, in my case a phone call, to schedule a phone interview with the leaders of the team which had the opening. The phone interview involved two people not co-located and consisted of general background questions and then moved to more job specific questions. The questions where detailed and technical in nature to demonstrate actual technical competence not just what was placed on your resume. This was followed by a chance for you to ask questions about the company and its expectations of you.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was asked to describe the design process of a series of pipes to be used in a rapid fueling system for a liquid propellant rocket engine, including which equations would be best for the case at hand as far as fluid pressure calculations and structural considerations.
I applied online, and a recruiter reached out a few months later to set up my first interview with a Team Lead. It went well so I moved onto the second interview with the Team Manager. Both interviews were extremely technical and they grilled you on your projects.
The interview started off with the interviewer asking a few behavioral questions, with the majority of the interview consisted of technical questions about engineering fundamentals and applying them to scenarios
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Which pillar in a rigid structure bears the most weight?
Very simple questions, but very specific to the role. There were multiple rounds, and each round was different. Again, very specific to the role and i was rejected for one position, then my former interviews were used to determine my qualification for a different position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me technical questions about RLC circuit analysis and how to measure voltage and current.
